Articles and news on VOIP and SIP developments

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The telecommunications company T-Mobile has suspended its Bobsled VoIP service because users did not realise that it was a separate entity from Facebook.

That means that only a week after launching the free VoIP app which is Facebook based, T-Mobile is having to rethink its VoIP social network strategy.

The company released a statement to say: "We are voluntarily and temporarily suspending the Bobsled service.

“In the meantime we will work with our partners at Facebook to address their design questions, including working to ensure that the Bobsled experience is clearly differentiated and is not mistaken for a Facebook created property. We apologize to our customers for this temporary disruption in service."

The friend-to-friend chatting service was aimed to cater to the 88% of Facebook users who have indicated that they want a Facebook voice chat service on-site. However Facebook has said that the app violates Facebook policies so it is back to the drawing board.

While VoIP services often need minor adjustments after release, if there is a policy violation then it is normal practice to temporarily suspend the product until the issue is resolved.

The initial release of the T-Mobile app surprised many in the industry but the idea of being able to call other Facebook users, and if necessary leave them voice messages which are transcribed onto the ‘wall’, is a good one. T-Mobile, which will soon be part of AT&T, also has future plans to release a video chat service.